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Celebrating a season of hard work

Young Bonnyville Bandits and Renegades were rewarded for a season's worth of hard work at their year-end banquet. Parents, volunteers, players, and coaches from both teams gathered at Notré Dame Elementary School on Saturday, Dec.
Members of the Renegades showed their appreciation for their coaches.
Members of the Renegades showed their appreciation for their coaches.

Young Bonnyville Bandits and Renegades were rewarded for a season's worth of hard work at their year-end banquet.

Parents, volunteers, players, and coaches from both teams gathered at Notré Dame Elementary School on Saturday, Dec. 2 for the awards ceremony.

Coming off of a hard fought season that ended in overtime of the championship game, the Bandits had a lot to celebrate.

“There's 86,400 seconds in the day. Hopefully they use some of those to sleep, but for the most part, we challenge these young men and women to spend their time wisely,” said Bandits head coach Mickey Fagnan. “We held 26 practices and had only one bad one, and by the end of that, the players were saying ‘coach let's do more.'”

Players made selecting award winners nearly impossible for coaching staff. In many cases, athletes shared awards in races that were too tight to call. The first trophy given out by the Bandits proved the future is in good hands, with Logan Critch and Darian Keewatin earning co-rookie of the year honours.

The hardest workers that gain the least credit on the field had their moment to shine next with the lineman awards. Kistin Watchmaker took home the offensive trophy, while Logan Yashchyshyn earned the defensive lineman award.

In the backfield, Kelton McAuley's work on the ground earned him the offensive award, with linebacker Colby Ives being recognized for running the defensive backfield.

After playing a major part in the Bandits success, Duncan Critch and Parker Reed took home offensive and defensive MVP honours. The overall team MVP went to Brendan Smith, who expressed pride in each one of his teammates.

“I was very excited to receive this award, I was surprised it was this one, I thought I might get the lineman award. All of my teammates were deserving of the awards they were given. At the end of the day, we're just one big family,” said Smith.

Despite only stringing together two wins, the Bonnyville Renegades were in high spirits at the year-end banquet.

Excited in their progress, both individually and as a team, the young Renegades were recognized for their hard work.

“I want to thank each one of these players for always giving 110 per cent. I truly appreciated coaching these young men, and I hope they all have very prosperous careers in football. Hopefully this year is a big jump in them taking it all the way to the pro's,” expressed Renegades head coach Josh Jubinville.

Four newcomers were first to receive awards, with J'den Freisen and Jason Prybysh splitting the rookie of the year award. Nicholas Morgan and Erik Desnoyers earned most improved honours on the offensive and defensive side respectively.

Despite being new to the position, three standouts earned awards in the trenches. Tynan Yashchyshyn handled things for the offence, while Grady Blain and Jared Poltorak were recognized for contributions to the defensive front.

Jared Boulianne and Elias Fraser Marks earned offensive and defensive backfield awards after playing an integral part in their respective positions.

With so many giving it their all, an MVP was too hard to decide on. Matteo Godbout earned the title of offensive MVP, while Cooper Prybysh stood out on defence. Connor Critch and Alexandre Cardinal shared the overall team MVP award, for their skillful play and never-say-die attitudes.

“How do we measure value? We measure it how we measure anything else in football, in yards. Not how many yards you can carry the ball, but how far you push your team to elevate their game,” said Renegades coach Rohdy Reed.

Members of the coaching staff also recognized the parents and volunteers in the crowd before a presentation for both of the team managers. While they didn't always get the result they wanted, players alike expressed gratitude for being a part of the Renegades this season.

“Our job as coaches is for the kids to be smiling at the end of the day. I know we only won two games, but those kids were always smiling at the end of the game. As coaches that's all we can ask,” expressed Jubinville.

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